I managed to get up with my alarm even though I had not had much sleep. Looking at the time still, I knew I would have to hurry up if I was going to make this ferry.I leaped out of bed and gathered my things and headed out the door to the metro. When I got to the metro I would have to switch again onto another line to take me to the port
. The only problem was, the line ended up terminating early, I knew I didn't have time to wait for another train to come, so I hopped in a taxi.
I argued with him about the price, but I was in such a hurry I settled on 10 euro. When I got to the port, the taxi driver fessed up, and said he would only charge me 7 euro, I let him keep an extra Euro for being honest with me. I grabbed my backpack and ran to where Blue star Ferries was stationed. I had never done this before and I wasn't sure what the procedure was. It already looked like they were all loaded up, and people seemed to have these tags that the agent was scanning. I was confused as I only had a paper ticket that I had printed online. I asked for some assistance, but the guy was being a jerk to me and making fun of me and lecturing me for being so late. This was the last thing I needed, who did he think he was? My ticket ended up coming through just in time and I was allowed to board. When I got to my seat, the guy started in on me again calling my name saying how next time I need to be on time. I just ignored him, and carried on, in the end I was relieved that I wouldn't have to wait for the 3 pm overnight ferry.
The boat right was long, but relaxing, I'd never been on a ferry so big, so fancy and with so much service, they even have their own fast food restaurant. The Ferry stopped in Naxos and Paros, it was nice to take in the view.
Finally after 8 hours we made it to Santorini, The boat started to make this singing noise, I guess it symbolises that it's docking and opening up the 'doors'. Everybody was crowded at the front, ready for their first view of Santorini.
When I got off the ferry I realized I had not really looked into what the mode of transportation was on the island and how I was suppose to get to my hotel. (I couldn't get a hostel because they are all closed this time of the year). I didn't have anything to fear though because I found a taxi, and for 12 Euro, I figured it wasn't too much damage. I ended up having to share the cab with this other lady, I wasn't too bothered though as I had read previously that this was standard practice in a lot of countries. When I got to my hotel, there was a note on the door of the office saying that he was away, so I couldn't check in. I waited around for a while hoping to spot someone who could help, but finally I decided to put my bag down and go exploring.
From the research I had done, I already knew that I was in Fira, which is the main town in Santorini. I stopped at a corner store to get something to drink and some cookies to snack on. I managed to kill quite a bit of time. When I got back to the hotel the owner George was there, he kept apologizing and asking why I didn't call the number on the door. I explained to him that it said "for emergencies" and that I didn't think this was one. He also gave me information about Santorini and the things to do around the island. It was so nice to have a room to myself, to have tv, my own shower and toilet! I sprawled out and relaxed and watched television, but most of the channels were in Greek. After I decided to head out, I found a really nice Internet cafe that served food, so I took advantage of both. Then I walked further into Fira, I was blown away by the beauty of it, I couldn't believe where I was. It was definitely a dream come true!
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